The telegraph
Joe Biden calls for investigation after second woman accuses New York Governor Cuomo of sexual misconduct
A second former employee of the powerful New York state governor, Andrew Cuomo, accused him of sexual harassment, charges the governor denied on Saturday. This time, the accusations came from ex-health counselor Charlotte Bennett, 25, who told The New York Times that the governor sexually harassed her in the spring of 2020. According to Bennett, the 63-year-old policy said in June that he was open to dating women in their 20s, and asked if she thought age made a difference in romantic relationships, the Times reported. Although Cuomo never tried to touch it, “I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me and he felt terribly uncomfortable and afraid,” Bennett told the newspaper. Ms. Bennett said she spoke with Mr. Cuomo’s chief of staff and lawyer after the alleged incident, which transferred her to another position in another building. Mrs. Bennett was happy with the new job and decided not to insist on an investigation. Joe Biden, the president of the United States, supports an independent investigation into the charges against Cuomo, said his press secretary, Jen Psaki, after New York Mayor Bill de Blasio asked for one. “There must be an independent review to analyze these claims, and this is certainly something he supports and we believe we should move forward as quickly as possible,” said Psaki in CNN’s State of the Union. Cuomo became a national star last spring with his direct, but empathetic, coronavirus briefings, which contrasted sharply with then President Donald Trump’s dismissive approach to the pandemic. But the accusations of harassment come at a time when he is facing a growing storm due to the treatment of coronavirus in nursing homes in his state. In a statement on Saturday, Cuomo said that “he never advanced against Ms. Bennett nor did I intend to act inappropriately”. He said he preferred to support Mrs. Bennett, who told him she was a survivor of sexual assault. Mr. Cuomo, who appears to have agreed to allow New York Attorney General Letícia James to order an independent inquiry, apologized for being “insensitive or too personal”. The New York governor said he never intended to offend, but admitted that his actions could have been misinterpreted as flirtation. “Sometimes, at work, I think I’m being playful and making good-natured jokes is funny. Sometimes, I tease people in a way that I find humorous,” he said. “I do it in public and in private. You saw me do it at briefings hundreds of times. I teased people about their personal lives, their relationships, about getting married or not getting married. I don’t want to offend and just try to add a little of levity and joking about what is a very serious business. “The governor, whose third term expires in late 2022, called for” a complete and complete external review “of these charges, led by a former federal judge. “I ask all New Yorkers to await the conclusions of the review so that they know the facts before making any judgment,” he added. This is the second time in a week that the Democratic governor, who has led the state of New York for 10 years, has been accused of sexual harassment. On Wednesday, another former adviser, Lindsey Boylan, said in a blog that he had harassed her when she worked for her government, from 2015 to 2018. Boylan, 36, claimed that the governor had given her an unsolicited kiss on the lips , suggested that she play strip poker with him and “went out of his way to touch me on the lower back, arms and legs”. “For those who are wondering what it is like to work for administrator Cuomo, read the @ LindseyBoylan story,” wrote Bennett in a re-tweet of Boylan’s post. Cuomo’s office said in a statement that Boylan’s “allegations of inappropriate behavior are simply false”.